The Inspire School of Arts and Sciences has shared a campus with Chico High School for years.
Inspire's classrooms and offices are in a series of modular, portable buildings behind Chico High. They were originally going to be destroyed by the district, but became the new home of Inspire when it began in 2010. Students say the campus feels a little cramped.
"I kind of view Inspire and Chico High as 'We're sharing a room, we're sharing a campus," said Inspire senior Arya Pocock. "Part of sharing a room is you're not able to completely have your own space."
The space Inspire does have often isn't adequate. The buildings were designed to be temporary, and have worn down over time. The flooring in the school's musical theater room began pulling up, causing dancing students to trip while rehearsing.
The school has been trying to move to a new campus since 2019, but it's faced some roadblocks in funding the project. Initially, the building costs were expected to be covered by a loan taken out by Inspire, state grants, and through funds from Measure K – a bond measure passed in 2016. It generated over $152 million for Chico Unified School District schools, and had an allotment for charter school funding.
As Inspire moved forward with plans for the campus, its estimated cost nearly doubled by 2021.
"With a funding shortfall of $10 million, Inspire asked for Chico Unified's help in moving the project forward," said Inspire Principal and Superintendent Becky Brown.

The district agreed to provide the additional funds in 2023, but without a confirmed source for the money. Last November, when voters approved another school bond in the form of Measure C, the Chico Unified School District Board allocated funds from it to help get Inspire's campus across the finish line. The hope is to break ground in late spring.
"So in a few months," Brown said. "Then we're projected to move in in fall of 2026. So it should happen pretty quickly."
Brown says the new campus will be a little bare bones. It won't have a cafeteria, or a theater, much to the disappointment of the school's drama and musical theater students.
"But it puts us in a good place to be able to raise funds and build for the future," Brown said. "That was really the most important piece, because we haven't been able to expand or build here."
For current Inspire seniors, it's bittersweet that the new campus could happen just after they graduate, despite the excitement that comes with it. Pocock was told as a freshman that she would be one of the first classes to use the new campus.
"And man … to have it ready the year or two years after you graduate … For me I'm just like 'Well, we made it, we graduated! We experienced the Inspire community on its original campus! And kudos to all the kiddos who get the nice fancy campus."